Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
We are encountering the new regulations as my DH recovers from surgery. He gets 5 days worth of pain medicine, and then I must drive to the doctors office for a new written prescription. As always, a few people ruin everything for everyone else.
It probably would have, but my idiot doctor just stopped giving me my prescription, never returned any calls, not mine nor the pharmacist, (Who understands why I need them, more than him) and never answered any emails. So I guess not. But I can understand their frustration, especially those who truly need their pain medication. Been there, done that.
Was in to my pain doctor yesterday. The place was absolutely packed at 0900, with a lot of surprised and indignant people. Seems that pharmacies will not honor refills for hydrocodone, even those written before the 6th, even though they can. At least by Federal mandate, but state law and individual pharmacy policy won't do so.
A LOT of people got caught napping. When I went to fill my Rx, my pharmacy was crammed with these same people, taking out their frustrations on the pharmacy staff. This new reg doesn't affect me, as I've been on month to month hand written scrips for quite a while, a thing I am grateful for after seeing this mess. However, it did give me an opportunity to see a lot of "pain patients" and do some ametuer evaluations.
The loudest, rudest and most pushy and abusive to the staff all seemed to fit a certain mold. As did the quiet ones, of which there were only a couple. The former all seemed pretty physically spry to be suffering debilitating pain. Most were pretty young as well. Their "symptoms" did not seem to be so much related to an injury or disability as...something else. Like withdrawal or pending withdrawal. At the doctors, I was prepared for a long wait after seeing the crammed waiting room, but had no sooner sat down when I was called back. I asked the nurse how it was I got through so fast, and she said most of the lobby was at least 2-3 hours early for their appts.
I would hazard that these are the very same types that caused these new regs, that legitimate and really needy pain patients are suffering because of. Plus, it seems they don't keep abreast of current events that affect their "treatment" and still expect to be bumped to the front of the line . Personally, I don't think this new law will do a thing to curb abuse of Rx narcotics, but it sure did catch a few abusers flat footed, from what I saw yesterday. I do have some sympathy for a few, that probably are legit, but this has been coming for a while, and procrastinating and assuming refills would be honored was a bad idea.
Looks like there's gonna be a bottleneck on hydocodone for a while, so, a few abusers will get indroduced to the joys of due to and withdrawal. Unfortunately, so will a lot of legitimate patients. While it remains to be seen how this may or may not work out long term, it looks like short term will be messy. I do have sympathy for the pharmacy techs. I know the staff at my pharmacy well. First name with most, and they have always treated me very well. It was annoying to observe the treatment folks were dishing out to them. This isn't their fault. But their lives are miserable because of it too.
Yep, its just a beautiful mess......
In our area I can get a prescription for 45 325mg Hydrocodone but I have to go back and get another from the Physician when those run out, there is not a refill option.
I go through those 45 pills about every 12 - 15 months so it is never an issue with me to get a refill.
I had 3 refills left (60/per refill) before I found out about the new regs..... get the lowest dosage and don't take every day ... refilled once before the new regs went into effect and have a small stockpile (won't have to see the doctor for a while) ... not really sure if they work for pain as I take one before bed and it knocks me out - also take diazepam for muscle spasms sometimes but I think that one is ok for refills ... the pharmasist told me that the doctor can prescribe up to 90 pills at a time and that would work for me ... pain is 24/7 for me but I can't take anything during the day - have tried but they all make me dizzy or disoriented .. so the only time I don't feel pain is when I sleep
We are encountering the new regulations as my DH recovers from surgery. He gets 5 days worth of pain medicine, and then I must drive to the doctors office for a new written prescription. As always, a few people ruin everything for everyone else.
I am wondering whether five days is enough for most patients and only a subset of people will need to drive to the doctor's office for a refill. I had hernia surgery about three years ago and was given 30 pills, of which I only took 8 over two days time. What they are trying to avoid is people having the 22 pills left over as I did. It took me several years to use them up for the occasional dental work or headache. While I would never consider selling them or giving them away, not everyone is like me.
Yes, I do realize that hernia surgery is not very extensive (no overnight hospital stay normally required) so the recovery time is quicker. My point was that I was given WAY too many pain pills.
Perhaps five days worth is inadequate, but that depends on what your husband's surgery was, which you didn't state. I suppose getting it just right is impossible, especially since there are individual differences in recovery time.
I knew about it ahead of time, but I still had some trouble. I saw my doc on Friday and got my new script. Dropped it off at Walgreens about 4:45 pm. We had a meeting to go to, so I said I would pick it up in a couple of hours. No problem. When I got out of the meeting, I had a phone call from Walgreens asking me to call back. I called to see what was up, and the woman who answered the call (not the one who called me) berated me like I was a drug seeker! She kept insisting that I would not be allowed to get a refill because of the new change and I would need a paper copy. She wouldn't stop lecturing long enough for me to tell her I DID have a paper copy. She put me on hold and came back a little while later and said, "okay, we found it, but we still don't have it and won't until Monday." Okay, so now what? She offered to call the other Walgreens in town and took my number. A little while later the man that I handed my script to in the first place called. He apologized for all of that. He was unaware that they were questioning it. The reason he asked the girl to call was to tell me they were out of it. ::sigh:: I had to rush back to town to pick up the paper script and take it to the other Walgreens before they closed. Luckily, he had called ahead so they were expecting us.
So.... the rules didn't catch ME off guard, but it didn't stop that Walgreens lady from treating me like a drug addict. It will be a pain (no pun intended) to see my doctor every time I need a refill. Hopefully once I have my hip surgery, I will be able to come off or at least significantly lower the amount I need. <fingers crossed>
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
It will be a pain (no pun intended) to see my doctor every time I need a refill. Hopefully once I have my hip surgery, I will be able to come off or at least significantly lower the amount I need. <fingers crossed>
